


Grandma Brighid's Lesson in Breaking the Law

by green_piggy



Series: everyone teaches poppi how to not listen to authories [2]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, No Spoilers, just meaningless fluff, theyre so good, we need more fics about the xeno ladies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-15 18:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18675001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_piggy/pseuds/green_piggy
Summary: Pandoria and Poppi, late at night, alone, far away from anyone else, are absolutelynotdoing anything suspicious when Brighid finds them. Nope, not at all!





	Grandma Brighid's Lesson in Breaking the Law

**Author's Note:**

> this fic came about from: salt over women being largely ignored in fandoms -> remembering xb2's many wonderful ladies -> remembering the fic i'd wrote for pandy and poppi which i still like! -> popped this out in a night
> 
> tbh i really like this haha - it's always fun exploring character dynamics, and the xb2 cast are great to write!
> 
> hope you enjoy~

_ “There  _ you are.”

Pandoria yelped, her wrench clattering to the sands underneath them.

“Uh-oh!” Poppi gasped. “We’ve been caught!” Her voice dropped. “Are Aunt Pandy and Poppi going to  _ prison?” _

“Shush, you!”

The person rounded the corner, with a wry little smile that you only knew was there when you knew where to look, and Pandoria sagged with relief when Brighid’s heels clicked towards them.

“It’s rather late, don’t you think?” Brighid came to a stop in front of them, arms crossed. One of her hands rested on her chin. “I heard you two leave, but when you didn’t come back, I thought I’d come out to ascertain your whereabouts.” Her smile softened. “You had me worried.”

“S-sorry...”

“So very sorry!”

A quiet chuckle. “All is forgiven. May I ask _ what, _ exactly, made you both unable to sleep?”

Poppi shot Pandoria a worried look, frowning  _ far _ cuter than what a robot should ever have looked. In return, Pandoria shot her a pitched look with raised eyebrows, a silent message of  _ ‘don’t say anything or I swear to the Architect I will rip your limbs apart and feed you to a serprond’. _

“Aunt Pandy and Poppi are breaking open chest!”

_ Architect damn it. _

“Hahaha  _ HA, _ nothing like that!” Pandoria beamed at Brighid’s frown. “We were just out on a walk! And, uh, found a dead monster! So we’re breaking open its chest!”

“Hmm, I see… don’t you loathe blood?”

_ “Haha…” _

“And if that’s the case, surely you won’t mind me having a look behind you? The two of you  _ are  _ standing rather suspiciously.”

“W-what? No we’re not!” Pandoria stretched her arms in the air as high as she could and planted her legs far apart, enough so that she’d crumble into the splits if she went any further. Poppi mimicked her movements, only seeming to forget that she was a good bit shorter, and went tumbling on her behind.

A beat of silence. Brighid crouched down in front of them, retrieving the wrench Pandoria had dropped earlier.

“Shall I assume you just  _ happened  _ to have this in your hands when I approached, hmm?”

“Wow, Brighid,” Pandoria blabbered,  _ subtly  _ kicking Poppi’s side to get her up. “How can you  _ walk  _ in the sand with those heels? How do you walk  _ anywhere  _ with your heels? They’re… really heely—”

“I use my fire to melt the sand into glass. And I use my two legs to walk, same as most people.” She easily strided past a floored Poppi and Pandoria’s desperately flailing limbs.

_ “Oh,”  _ came the soft exhale.

“We’re going to jail, Poppi.”

“I’m sorry, Aunt Pandy…”

Brighid stopped in front of what they had found earlier; a (presumably) treasure barrel that had washed up on Fonsett Island while they were staying in its tiny village. Pandoria had spotted it during the day, while out on a walk, and had waited until now to bring out her eager protégé to open it herself.

But now…

Sure, they opened chests during their adventures, but this was  _ different.  _ They were resting. They had an abundance of supplies and food. Breaking open chests for no reason…

But Brighid didn’t open her mouth to lecture them. Instead, she looked almost - intrigued, frowning slightly as she ran a hand over the top of the barrel.

It was a strange chest. It  _ looked  _ like it was made in Tantal, but it had subtle differences, and the lock wasn’t like anything Pandoria had ever seen before.

_ “Fascinating,”  _ Brighid murmured. “I think even I’d struggle to break this one.”

“Wait wait  _ wait.”  _ Pandoria grasped her hands behind her, looking between Brighid and the chest, tail swinging. “You -  _ you  _ \- know how to pick locks!?”

“But of course.” Brighid frowned ever so slightly. “Sometimes one must… perform less than savory acts for the greater good of their country. It wouldn’t do to have royalty frolicking about and breaking open chests and locks like a criminal, so the duty falls to me.”

“You just, uh, don’t really seem like the lockpicking type.”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t be so quick to judge.”

Pandoria had no argument against that.

“So you… have experience?”

“From beyond what I can remember, apparently.” Her fingers tapped the light metal lock on top of the barrel. Her voice was dry. “There are entries in my journal, complaining about how often I had to do this… from as far as five hundred years ago.”

_ “Huuuuuuh.” _

It was always - strange, when Pandoria remembered that she’d led countless lives before this one. She couldn’t remember a single one of them - no Blade could - and it always made her a bit uncomfortable. What was the point of anything, if she couldn’t remember it? What was the point of acting good, if everyone she’d ever impacted would eventually die or forget her having ever existed?

...But then, one day, she’d thought - what was the point of  _ not  _ acting good? Why not just - be herself, whoever that person was?

Maybe the Pandorias from previous lives had had that exact same thought process, those exact same musings. Maybe they hadn’t. She had no way of knowing, and, really, there was no point dwelling on what-ifs and could-haves. It was better to live in the here and  _ now. _

“Aunt Pandy?” Poppi asked, her finger prodding Pandoria’s bicep.

Pandoria shook herself and gave Poppi a warm smile. “S-sorry, got lost in thought for a second, heh.” She rubbed her arms, snapping her attention back to Brighid.

“It okay! Grandma Brighid was explaining stuff.”

“I’m sorry?” Brighid said, voice tight.  _ “Grandma?” _

“But of course!” Poppi thrust her hand high. “Grandma Brighid much more mature and cool than Aunt Pandy!”

“Ouch…  _ destroyed,”  _ Pandoria muttered, but when Poppi was beaming as brightly as she was, she couldn’t bring herself to mind.

Indeed, Brighid’s scowl became a thoughtful frown. She made a quiet scoff when she gazed at Pandoria. “Well, then… in that case, of  _ course  _ I’m the grandmother.”

“Yay!”

“What a weird family…” Pandoria grumbled. Brighid made a shushing noise, finger over her lips.

“Hush, now.  _ Grandma  _ Brighid is speaking.”

“I’m literally begging you to  _ never  _ say that ever again.”

“Grandma Brighid, please share more wisdom!”

“Hmm…” Brighid twirled Pandoria’s wrench between fingers, looking thoughtful. “This little - ah,  _ tool,  _ of yours, will let you unlock a fair few chests, but not all of them.” She turned back. “The lock isn’t like anything in our modern culture. If I were to wager a guess… I’d say it’s Tornan.”

“Huh.” Pandoria poked at it herself. “Really?”

“Indeed.” Brighid gave her a smile. “And I know just the solution for these kind of locks. Relics of ancient history, from a country long lost to us.”

Brighid stepped back and stretched out her hands. She cracked her knuckles, with a little smile that told Pandoria to  _ get the hell away,  _ and she scrambled away as Brighid approached the poor chest once more.

Poppi leaned forward with a curious noise. Pandoria, being the good aunt that she was, rested a hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her back.

Both of them kept their eyes on Brighid as she stopped in front of the chest. She exhaled, and then ran her finger around the area the lock was attached to. Underneath her touch, tiny flames lit up on the wood and smouldered. Little puffs of smoke fluttered in the night sky.

She grabbed the pieces of wood around the lock. It crumbled in her fingers, fraying apart like dry grass, and scattered to the grains of sand below.

Brighid rested a hand underneath the lock, and as the wood crackled and burnt away, the lock itself fell. There was no  _ chunk  _ or sudden sound of it hitting the bottom of the barrel, however. Instead, Brighid pulled her hand out and unfurled her fingers.

The lock laid in her palm, undamaged.

Poppi clapped her hands together. “Amazing work, Grandma Brighid!”

A warm smile. “Why, thank you.”

Pandoria would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little envious. She definitely  _ wasn’t  _ pouting as she grasped the barrel. “C’mon, let’s look inside! If it’s really Tornan, there’s gonna be soooo much awesome stuff!”

They pushed off the lid and peered inside. Poppi had to grab the edges of the barrel and hold herself up, legs dangling off the ground. Brighid and Pandoria both planted their hands atop it with their full weight so that the barrel wouldn’t be sent rolling.

“Are you  _ kiddin’  _ me!?” Pandoria stared, unblinking, as if something -  _ anything  _ \- would manifest if she looked for long enough. “Nothing?  _ Nothing!?” _

“Perhaps,” came Brighid’s sagely voice, “the real treasure was the friends we made along the way.”

“Ooooh…” Poppi let go of the barrel, arms crossed. Pandoria sighed in relief and released it. “Great words of wisdom!”

“Yeah, yeah, real nice, I’m  _ so  _ touched.” Pandoria planted her fists on her hips. “Still doesn’t give us any money!”

“I dare say we needn’t worry about funds for the moment.” Brighid’s warm hand rested on her shoulder. Pandoria glanced up into those ever-shut eyes that still somehow managed to convey so much emotion. “How about we retire for the night, hmm? This barrel will still be here tomorrow.”

“Poppi  _ is  _ a bit tired…”

“And if she’s tired, then you certainly are, Pandoria.” Brighid squeezed her shoulder. “You control electricity. What I did there… you’ll be able to do very similar. If we have time tomorrow, I’d be delighted to show you.”

“O-oh…” Pandoria glanced away, nibbling on her lip. She hadn’t even  _ said  _ anything, and yet Brighid had been able to sense what she’d been feeling… “You don’t… I’m just bein’ annoying, sorry. You don’t  _ have  _ to.”

“Nonsense. I’d love to.”

“Heh…” Pandoria smiled at her. “Thanks. You’re a pretty cool grandma, y’know?”

“Indeed I am.” Poppi came in next to Brighid’s side, snuggling up tight against her.

“Grandma Brighid so warm!”

“If I _ wasn’t  _ warm, I’d be quite concerned.” Brighid’s arm rested over Poppi’s shoulders, and, a second later, stopped atop of Pandoria’s, too. She was so  _ cosy,  _ like a fire waiting for you after a long and stressful day…

It really did feel like home. Pandoria amazed herself, more and more each day, with how much she’d gotten attached to this strange little group. She wouldn’t trade her family for all the riches in Alrest.

“Shall we go?” Brighid asked.

“Please!”

“Yeah.”

“Excellent.” Their shoes shifted against the white sands beneath. “Why, if we have enough time, I could show you both how to effectively break locks on doors. Or on anything, really.”

“Just  _ what  _ did you have to do all those years ago..?”

A warm chuckle. “Nothing I can remember, so nothing I need fret about. Life is best lived in the here and now.”

Pandoria was  _ pretty sure  _ that wasn’t the lesson to be learnt from that, but she was too snug to argue. “Yeah… you’re right.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! kudos and comments are always greatly appreciated, have a wonderful day! <3
> 
> i have a [twitter!](https://twitter.com/greenpiggles) check it out if you want to~


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